By bus to Lake Titicaca

The main attraction at Lake Titicaca are the floating islands. For more than 500 years, the Uros people have been native to this area, which now depends on tourism for their livelihood.

Their reed islands, on which the entire community's life unfolds in a fascinating way, were once vital for their survival. The Uros could seek refuge on the water from enemies. Today, the constructed rafts serve no purpose other than tourism and the indigenous people are completely dependent on the money from visitors. I did not want to form a final judgment.

I decided to skip further boat tours to other islands where locals present dances, costumes, and traditional dishes to guests and offer overnight stays in an authentic atmosphere.

I will spare you a detailed retelling of the highly interesting construction of the islands and the way of life in the reed forest, and refer you to the good article in the online encyclopedia: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uru_(people)

Despite my skepticism, I was particularly aware in Peru that I was a beneficiary of the country's tourist infrastructure. Cusco was the best example of this. There were affordable hostels, menus in English, the residents were friendly and informative, and the bus connections were comfortable.

After seven days, I said goodbye to Cusco and Inca Emperor Pachacutec on Saturday. His statue watched over the city center of Cusco from the main square. I passed the golden statue several times a day and it gave me joy to see how clouds, light, and darkness played with the image.

The statue was only erected in 2011 on the fountain of Plaza de Armas. Until 1969, there was mysteriously an image of a Native American with a bow and arrow, around which various myths revolved.

I then took an exceptionally luxurious night bus to Puno, 350 km away on the Peruvian shore of Lake Titicaca, where I arrived reasonably well-rested on Sunday morning.

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By the way, Peru does not change the time, and we are now seven hours behind Central European Summer Time.

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Lesson of the week: The Kim Wilde hit 'You Keep Me Hangin' On' is actually originally by The Supremes, and there is a wonderful cover version by Tom Jones.

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Disappointment of the week: The free version of Spotify is only accessible abroad for two weeks, which greatly limits my music consumption.